Israel Approves Prayer Space at Western Wall for Non-Orthodox Jews

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Rabbi Anat Hoffman, left, of Women of the Wall, with two other members of the group, Batya Kallus and Rabbi Susan Silverman, right. Rabbi Hoffman said the decision acknowledged “that there is more than one way to be Jewish.”CreditJim Hollander/European Pressphoto Agency

JERUSALEM — After years of rancor over rituals at the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism, the Israeli government on Sunday approved the creation of an upgraded egalitarian prayer space there for non-Orthodox Jews.

The cabinet decision was hailed as “historic” by American Jewish leaders who had long chafed at the strictly Orthodox control of the site. It was also viewed as a victory for Women of the Wall, a group of Israeli and diaspora Jews that has championed the struggle against the male-dominated establishment for 27 years in a battle largely fought with prayer shawls and Torah scrolls.

For centuries, the massive, beige stones of the iconic wall in Jerusalem’s Old City have been a symbol of Jewish unity, a place of reflection and prayer. That harmony has been marred by disputes over practices and customs between the Orthodox authorities who control most religious life in Israel and the more diverse communities here and abroad.

The overwhelming majority of affiliated Jews in North America belong to the non-Orthodox Reform and Conservative streams, and their leaders said they had felt increasingly alienated from Israel.

The discord is far from over. Ultra-Orthodox members of the Israeli governing coalition opposed the decision, and the cabinet resolution avoided any overt mention of the Reform and Conservative movements, sidestepping formal recognition of non-Orthodox religious branches in Israel. Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Jerusalem, said those Jewish groups knew nothing about the Torah, prayer or Judaism, and that their leaders desecrate the Sabbath and eat non-kosher food.

The plan for the new prayer space, where men and women would be allowed to worship together, is an effort to restore some measure of tranquillity at the ancient site. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as “a fair and creative solution” and “a compromise on this delicate issue in a place that is supposed to unite the Jewish people.”

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union of Reform Judaism, which has its headquarters in New York, said the decision was “obviously the result of years and years of advocacy and agitation.”

“It is about the legitimacy of the Judaism we practice here,” he added, speaking by telephone before Sunday’s cabinet meeting.

Anat Hoffman, the chairwoman of the board of Women of the Wall, said the cabinet approval was acknowledgment “that there is more than one way to be Jewish.” She added, “We were a catalyst for something revolutionary.”

The Western Wall, known as the Kotel in Hebrew, a remnant of the retaining wall that surrounded the Temple Mount, is the central site for Jewish prayer. The Temple Mount plateau, revered by Jews as the location of their ancient temples and the holiest site in Judaism, houses Al Aqsa Mosque compound, one of the three holiest sites in Islam, where Jews are allowed to visit but not pray.

The Western Wall plaza currently has a prayer area with segregated men and women’s sections, in line with Orthodox norms, under the management of Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, of the Orthodox rabbinate and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.

The government decision is meant to give visitors and worshipers a third option — an easily accessible and visible space south of the men and women’s sections, in the area known as Robinson’s Arch, dedicated to pluralistic, egalitarian prayer.

It will be governed by a committee chaired by the head of the Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental organization that works with the Jewish diaspora, and including representatives from the Reform and Conservative movements, the Jewish Federations of North America, the Israeli government and Women of the Wall.

Rabbi Rabinowitz said he received the government decision with a “heavy heart and a sigh of relief.”

“Ever since the fringe and vociferous group of Women of the Wall started its mass-media activity, the Western Wall went from being a unifying site to one of incessant quarrels,” he said in a statement, adding, “We must do everything to put this terrible chapter behind us.”

The Conservative branch, also known as the Masorti movement, has for years overseen some egalitarian prayer around Robinson’s Arch, the site of an ancient staircase, but the site, available for only a few hours a day, was difficult to get to and remained largely hidden from public view.

Under the new arrangement, the governing committee will receive public funds. The site is to be open 24 hours a day, and people involved in the negotiations said it would have a “majestic” entrance.

The plan is the result of years of negotiations between Israeli government representatives and Jewish leaders. It is based on ideas outlined three years ago by Natan Sharansky, the chairman of the Jewish Agency, who has been instrumental in pushing for a solution.

In the meantime, the Women of the Wall kept up the pressure with monthly prayer gatherings. Mr. Sharansky’s proposal came after the arrest of 10 members of the group, including two American rabbis, who were detained for wearing prayer shawls that are traditionally used by men.

The group held its first full bat mitzvah, a coming-of-age ceremony for girls, at the wall in 2014 and got around the strictures against women reading from the Torah there by sneaking in a miniature scroll that was read with a magnifying glass.

Women of the Wall had rejected proposals involving Robinson’s Arch in the past.

In 2013, Naftali Bennett, then Israel’s minister for Jerusalem and diaspora affairs, erected a platform above the archaeological park at Robinson’s Arch to serve as an interim solution. Ms. Hoffman rejected it as a “monstrosity” that “looks like a sunbathing deck.”

And as a compromise began to take shape more recently, a few members of Women of the Wall split off in protest, insisting on the right to practice according to their own custom in the existing women’s section.

Big battles still loom for the non-Orthodox branches in Israel, including the demand for civil marriage. Six months ago, Israel’s strictly Orthodox minister of religious services, David Azoulay, of the Shas party, caused an uproar among American Jews when he said that he did not consider Reform Jews to be Jewish.

Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, the executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, which represents Conservative rabbis, said there was “no question” that the Israeli government approval for the new prayer space “signifies a meaningful step forward.” She added, “At the same time, we have to see it actually get built.”

Urging practicality and caution, she cited advice from the Talmud: “If you should be holding a sapling in your hand when they tell you the Messiah has arrived, first plant the sapling, then go out and greet him.”

Correction:

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of a picture caption with this article misstated the given name of the rabbi shown at right. She is Susan Silverman, not Sarah.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Western Wall Will Have Prayer Space for Non-Orthodox Jews. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe